Thu, May 07, 2009
Deliveries Trimmed Back To 14 From 21, '10 Stats Not Much
Better
Time are tough... from the malaise of the LSA and ultralight
industry, all the way to the mighty Airbus A380 Jumbo-Jumbo Jet.
Airbus is admitting that deliveries for 2009 are going to fall far
short of what they had expected just a few months ago.
The company blames "the current economic and aviation crisis and
following specific customer requests for deferrals," for the
drawback from a once-expected 21 deliveries all the way back to 14.
The 2010 stats have also been adversely affected with some 20
deliveries expected out of once was thought to be some 45 aircraft.
The quarter-billion dollar aircraft (Base price $237M), has been
forced to discount heavily to keep the orders it has so far and a
number of customers have also exacted penalties for the many
delays, some 2 years, that plagued the program's delivery
start-up.
While Airbus expects little effect on their 2009 bottom line,
the delivery reductions may yet escalate. Companies that include
entities such as Air France-KLM, China Southern, Kingfisher
and Qantas have already pulled back on initial deliveries and a
number of other orders are rumored to be "soft."
The Airbus A380 came on the scene as something of a shock to
Boeing, who had held the "Jumbo" crown for decades. The massive
A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine airframe which made
its maiden flight 27 April 2005 in Toulouse, France.
The first revenue flight was made 25 October 2007 with a
Singapore to Sydney run for Singapore Airlines. Unlike the Boeing
747, the A380's upper deck extends along almost the entire length
of the fuselage. The cabin has some 50% more floor space than the
Boeing 747-400, and provides a seating plan that allows for 525
people in a standard three-class configuration or up to 853 people
in its all-economy incarnation. Both passenger and freight versions
are being offered to carriers.
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